Mukhtar Ansari was referred to the Sanjay Gandhi PGI Hospital in Banda.

New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party's MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who is lodged in Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail in connection with various criminal cases, today suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the district hospital in Banda district. According to some reports, Mr Ansari complained of chest pain when his wife Afsa Ansari came to see him in jail and on seeing his condition, even she suffered a heart attack. The 55-year-old legislator was referred to the Sanjay Gandhi PGI Hospital and his condition was stable, his aide told news agency PTI.

Here are 5 Facts about the Gangster-Turned-Politician:

1. Mukhtar Ansari is the leader of Bahujan Samaj Party and has been elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Uttar Pradesh's Mau constituency a record five times. The BSP chief Mayawati had called him "a messiah of the poor".

2. Mukhtar Ansari has over 40 criminal cases against him, including those related to murder and kidnapping. He is also the prime accused in the 2005 murder of BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai.

3. In 2010, Mukhtar Ansari was booked for the murder of Ram Singh Maurya, who was a witness to the murder of Mannat Singh, a local contractor allegedly killed by Ansari's gang in 2009.

4. The BSP expelled him in 2010 for criminal activities and he went on to form his own party Quami Ekta Dal with his brothers. He again won from the Mau seat in 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. He merged Quami Ekta Dal with the BSP in 2017, and won the state elections as a BSP candidate.

5. Mukhtar Ansari has been in prison since 2006 and has been in Banda jail for the past eight months.